b'information on high priority critical care medicines;health professionals and industry can ethically work DHA, VA, and HHS/USPHS requests to promotetogether as partners to advance federal and public plasma donation to support COVID-19 patienthealth goals.care; and the Navajo Nations request for nurses toCOVID-19 presents a profound threat to public health and help care for patients at IHS and tribal healthcareour federal health systems, including patients, staff, their facilities in Arizona and New Mexico. familiesandcommunities.FederalhealthprofessionalsFEMA invited AMSUS-SM to help promote theircontinuetoworkhardtoaddresstheseunprecedented annual Partnership Day with National Voluntarychallenges within their systems. During this public health Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), theemergency, many of these professionals including USPHS Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs (NOVA)commissionedofficers,DHAmedicalcorpsmembers, asked the group to promote ethical industry supportand VA staff have also augmented care of patients in their of VA Nurses at their 40th Annual Meeting incommunities.October 2020, and USPHS Commissioned OfficersAMSUS-SM and its member companies support federal Foundation requested assistance to promote industryhealth professionals as they seek to minimize transmission support of Americas Health Responders at theof SARS-CoV-2 and optimize care of COVID-19 patients. USPHS Commissioned Officers Foundation AnnualWe look forward to continuing to provide the many benefits Training and Scientific Symposium. of ethical public and private partnership by collaborativelyAMSUS-SM VA Committee and officers beganengagingourdiversemembershipwithfederalhealth work with U.S. Medicine on this supplementalleaders to serve and support our nations critical response publication which cites examples of how federalto the COVID-19 pandemic.AstraZeneca Joins Forces with OperationWarp Speed to Defeat COVID-19Editors note: This information was provided byreachedanagreementunderwhich AstraZenecawould AstraZeneca and was edited for consistency and clarity,be responsible for global manufacturing and distribution but not reported or written by U.S. Medicine staff.oftherecombinantchimpanzeeadenovirusvaccineto preventinfectionbytheSARS-CoV-2virus,ifclinical WASHINGTONDefeating COVID-19 has required antrials proved it safe and effective.unparalleled cooperation between government and privateToday, the AstraZeneca vaccine is recognized as essential industryacrosstheglobe.IntheU.S.,thatteamworkto the U.S. governments plan to vaccinate most Americans hascapturedthenationsfullattentionthroughoutthebynextsummer.Earlyresultsoftrialsconductedinthe pandemic as these joint efforts have produced vaccinesU.K.andBrazildemonstratedvaccineefficacyof62% and novel therapeutics in record time.and 90%, depending on dosage received. The company is Among the most closely watched partnerships have beenalso undertaking a phase 3 trial in the U.S. that is expected those between Operation Warp Speed, a joint program ofto report out results by late January, roughly at the same the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and thetime that detailed data on the earlier trials will be available. DoD committed to delivering 300 million doses of vaccineAssuming the outcomes are as positive as the evidence to date as quickly as possible, and the vaccine manufacturers theindicates, AstraZeneca will likely file for an emergency use U.S. government selected for funding. authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration OperationWarpSpeed(OWS)choseAstraZenecain(FDA) shortly afterward.May as one of six preferred vaccine manufacturers. AtThe U.S. trial is proceeding in close coordination with the same time, OWS announced $1.2 billion in support ofOWS. Its a trial that we and the FDA have overseen development, production, and delivery of the companystotally, and ultimately it may have the largest weight in leading vaccine through the U.S. Biomedical Advanceda decision around authorizing the vaccine, said Moncef ResearchandDevelopmentAuthority(BARDA).TheSlaoui, chief scientific adviser to OWS.agreement called for a phase 3 clinical trial with at leastFollowing publication of interim results of the vaccines 30,000 participants as well as a pediatric trial. pooledphase3internationaltrialsinTheLancet,the The vaccine produced by AstraZeneca was created at theeditor-in-chiefoftheesteemedmedicaljournalsaid University of Oxford by the Jenner Institute and OxfordtheAstraZenecavaccinehadadistinctcomparative VaccineGroup.Inlate April, AstraZenecaandOxfordadvantage over other vaccines in its ability to reduce the THE VALUE OF THE PARTNERSHIP: Industry and the Federal Customer Working Together 17'